Discover the Milk Trick for Creamier Mashed Potatoes This Thanksgiving
- Mashed potatoes are a beloved side dish with countless preparation methods, including boiling in salted water, but some recipes suggest using milk as the cooking liquid for a creamier texture.
Potatoes are decidedly the most popular vegetable on the planet
. Everyone has their favorite tuber, and the number of ways you can prepare them is enough to make your head spin. Fried, baked
, steamed, smashed—the list could go on and on.
While there's no wrong way to enjoy the starchy delicacy, mashed
is my personal favorite, and it's not uncommon to find me hunched over a separate plate dedicated to the good stuff around the holidays.
It goes without saying that we take our spuds very seriously, and if you're chosen to take on the task of making the mash this year at Thanksgiving
(or really, anytime), the stakes are incredibly high.
Fortunately, there's no shortage of potato recipes
available on the internet, and with the help of your trusty Thanksgiving spreadsheet, the room for error is marginal at best (pun intended).
While most recipes call for salted boiling water to soften your washed and peeled tubers, some encourage the use of other liquids—like chicken or vegetable stock—to impart additional flavor to the otherwise blank canvas.
Aside from flavor, texture is probably the most essential component of award-winning mashed potatoes. Of course, there's nothing wrong with a few un-mashed chunks, but achieving silky smooth, luscious spuds takes the side dish to an entirely different realm of deliciousness.
And to achieve the creamiest results possible, Instagram user @177milkstreet
has an ingenious recommendation we wish we'd thought of sooner.
Related: 70 Smashed, Mashed and Roasted Red Potato Recipes To Transform the Baby Spud
The Easy Trick To Upgrade Your Mashed Potatoes
Getty Images
In a collaboration video with content creator Rosemary Gill , their version of the creamy side dish omits water altogether and instead goes full tilt by using milkas the cooking liquid. While that might seem a bit unusual, the science behind it is actually pretty solid.
"Potatoes are like pasta, in that they leach starches into their cooking liquid," shared Gill. Like pasta, reserving some of the cooking liquid allows the spud's natural creaminess to shine through and makes for an easy one-pot dish.
Although most families have a trusted recipe passed down through generations , if you're developing your own, this might not be a bad place to start. Once you have the creamy base down, the options for upgrades are only limited by your imagination. To add cheese or not? To herb it up or keep the seasonings simple? We also can't help but wonder what this technique would do to mashed sweet potatoes.
Expert Tips for Cooking Potatoes
Related: How to Make the Best-Ever Mashed Potatoes, According to Martha Stewart (and Her Mom)
This story was originally published by Parade on Nov 20, 2025, where it first appeared in the Food & Drink section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
